Chapter 3
Tamaru led the way through the forest. Her pace varied as she searched for signs of the passing Burnak. It had started out easy; she had seen where the Burnak raced into the forest, and she was quickly able to locate its paw prints in the mud. But the Rahi had made a beeline out of the jungle, and soon left the swampland where his paw prints were easily discernable. But even on the hard ground, Tamaru was able to find signs of passing of the beast. Broken branches, mangled bushes, and occasionally trampled flowers all indicated that the Burnak had passed through the region recently. After a while, Tamaru could tell that the Rahi was running along a mostly straight line; he would sometimes be forced to divert around natural obstacles, but his trajectory remained the same.
Taipu and Kapura followed behind Tamaru, often at a much slower pace. Taipu indeed found it difficult to move around through the jungle environment; he wasn't used to meandering around trees and foliage. Kapura was more apt at jungle travel, but he was already maintaining a slow pace.
"We've come quite a long way," Taipu said, to make conversation. "The Burnak must be quite worn out by now."
"Doubtful," Kapura said. "Burnak can travel great distances at a time. I have occasionally studied them in Ta-Wahi before."
"Oh," Taipu said. He paused, and then asked, "What even is this Makoki Stone that the Rahi stole? I feel like I've heard about it before, but I can't recall where."
"Makoki does have a common meaning," Kapura said. "It's another word for 'key.' But the Makoki stones are different; they are pieces of a key, each held by one of the Turaga, who have given them to the Toa."
"What are they a key to?" Taipu asked.
Kapura shrugged. "Turaga Vakama had not enlightened me on that," he answered. "But I know that one needs all six Makoki Stones in order to make them work. The loss of one will make the rest useless."
"But why would the Burnak steal just one Makoki Stone?" Taipu wondered. "Wouldn't he need all of them to unlock something?"
Kapura nodded. "Indeed. However, I would believe that the Burnak does not want to use the key. The lock is important for the Toa; if the full key cannot be recovered, the Toa cannot unlock the object. That is what the Makuta desires; that is why he sent the Burnak to claim just a piece of the key."
"So this single stone could halt the Toa's quest all on its own?" Taipu asked, amazed. "Why didn't Toa Lewa have it with him, if it's so important?"
"I cannot speak for Toa Lewa, but I know Toa Tahu has similarly left his Makoki Stone in the care of Ta-Koro," Kapura said. "The Toa are venturing into dangerous lands where it would be disastrous if they were to lose the Makoki. Better to keep them in the villages, where they could be better protected."
"But the Burnak stole it from the village!" Taipu protested.
"Indeed, some villages are better protected than others," Kapura mused. "Le-Koro relies on being in the treetops, but it is perhaps the least well defended village. Even then, the Makuta staged a massive distraction with the Nui-Rama before sending in the elite Burnak to make the theft; he has put a great amount of effort into this. I believe, perhaps, that he is becoming desperate."
"The Makuta, desperate?" Taipu repeated.
"Rahi have started massing outside of the villages," Kapura continued. "Le-Koro is not the only one to get attacked, and the village's defenses are started to strain. But also, the Toa are fulfilling their quests; most of their Kanohi have been collected, and they continue to face the darkness on this island. I am thinking that the Makuta knows this, and knows they will soon enter their endgame. So he is bringing all his powers to bear, and that includes this theft of the Makoki Stone."
"Why did you not explain this back in the village?" Taipu asked. "You could've convinced Kongu to listen to the Turaga!"
"I respect Kongu's experience as a commander; he also sees the signs, and knows he had to protect the village," Kapura stated. "Turaga Matau wisely selected Tamaru instead. Kongu would not have been able to follow the Burnak's tracks while flying in the air on his Kahu."
"I can ever-hear you, you know," Tamaru said. "You don't need to hype-talk me anymore. And what-say you about Le-Koro's defenses?"
"I was just speculating that Le-Koro's position in the trees makes it more vulnerable than the other villages. . ." Kapura started, before Taipu nudged him to be quiet.
"So how close are we to the Burnak now?" Taipu asked, abruptly changing the topic.
Tamaru shrugged. "Depends on where Burnak fast-run to? We're nearly edge-wood of jungle, may be harder to seek-find signs soon."
Kapura looked up through the thinning trees, and in the distance he could see the looming shape of Mt. Ihu. "We will soon reach the foothills of the mountain," he said. He paused, and added, "I do not mean to cause any further alarm, but I believe we are being followed."
"What, where?" Taipu asked, glancing around widely.
Kapura pointed upwards, and Tamaru looked up to catch a glimpse of emerald feathers. "The Kewa has been keeping an eye on us ever since we were deep in the jungle," he said. "Perhaps it is a minion of Makuta's?"
"No, she's infected-no," Tamaru said. "No Kewa has ever fallen to Makuta's influence; they are ever-noble species, and stand-no for getting infected. They out-look for each other."
"But why is this one following us?" Taipu asked, gazing up towards the bird.
Tamaru sighed. "I know-not why she follows, but that is Kunono, my Kewa in training."
"Oh, I thought you said you didn't fly," Taipu said.
"I still tree-bound; have not quick-soared with Kunono yet," Tamaru explained. "She is ever-challenge to train. But is curious why she fly-follows us now."
As if on cue, Kunono let out a squawk and took flight, disappearing from sight. However, Tamaru suspected that she was nearby. But why would the troublesome Kewa keep an eye on a Matoran who she refused to let approach her? Tamaru just could not figure out the thought process of that bird.
"Shall we continue?" Kapura asked. "It would be best not to let the Burnak gain any more distance on us."
"If the Burnak has the Makoki stone, but doesn't intend to use it, where is he taking it?" Taipu asked.
Kapura shrugged. "Perhaps he will just keep moving to make it more difficult to track him down."
"Likely-no," Tamaru retorted. "Burnak may have endurance-great, but still a beast. Will need nourishment and place to rest-lay. Even infected Rahi have to care-take of themselves. This Burnak will rest-stop eventually." She paused, and added, "I believe he has a destination; he has run in line-straight most of the time. Perhaps a den-home?"
"Indeed, fire Burnak are known to make dens within the crevasses of Ta-Wahi," Kapura said. "That could be his destination. But where would it be?"
"Then we'll just have to ever-follow path and we'll find it," Tamaru said, pressing forward.
They continued on, even as the jungle thinned around them. They were entering the forests on the foothills of Mt Ihu, which were changing with the higher elevations. There were still trees, but they were thinner and more spread out than in the depths of Le-Wahi. It was becoming harder for Tamaru to track the Burnak; she was mostly relying on the previous trajectory of the beast to determine their route. Luckily, she was able to affirm they were going in the right direction by sighting the occasional claw marking in the dirt.
Finally, Tamaru walked out between a grove of trees and saw a rocky hillside rise up in front of her. They were part way up the mountain now, and this particular slope was too steep for the trees to grow on, so it was only lightly vegetated. However, there was a distinct pathway leading up through the rocks, and it went partway up to an opening in the hillside.
"Is that a cave up there?" Taipu wondered, walking up behind Tamaru.
"I believe so," Tamaru said. "I cannot true-tell, but I believe Burnak's route-path led him to that earth-opening."
She started to move forward, but Taipu grabbed her arm. "We should be careful," he warned. "There are a lot of Rahi who like living in caves. Some of them, like the Fikou or the Ussal, aren't too much of a hassle, but you could run into a Vatuka or a swarm of Kofu-Jaga and get into some real trouble."
"Then we care-proceed," Tamaru said, drawing her bamboo disc. "And get ready for Rahi fight."
"We didn't exactly do well the last time we faced the Burnak," Taipu reminded her.
"He surprise-caught us," Tamaru said. "And he ever-fled once we got to feet-up. This time, surprise is on our ever-side."
Kapura caught up, having already drawn his pike. "We should still not underestimate the beast," he said. "Burnak can be particularly fierce when cornered."
"We just need to attention-divert him away from Makoki stone," Tamaru said. "Then we quick-grab and fast-flee back to Le-Koro."
Taipu gripped his pickax. "Okay, let's do this!"
Cautiously, Tamaru led the way up the hillside towards the cave. As she reached the mouth, the afternoon sun allowed her to see far back into its depths; however, there was no Burnak present.
"Where be beast?" Tamaru whispered.
"This could be an opening into the Onu-Wahi cave network," Taipu responded. "There are a bunch of natural caves beneath Mata Nui; if the Burnak managed to get into them, he could head to nearly any part of the island."
"This cave doesn't look that deep," Kapura commented.
"Yes, but the opening could be quite small and still connect," Taipu said, shielding his eyes as he squinted. As an Onu-Matoran, he had excellent night vision, but it was hindered quite a bit by the bright sunlight. However, he did notice movement in the back of the cave. "It's not unoccupied!" he warned.
The shapes moved towards the light, and soon Tamaru and Kapura could make them out too. There were two creatures, and both were larger than the Burnak. They had muscular limbs and large, flat heads with gleaming eyes. As they stepped forward, their white and blue armor gleamed in the sunlight.
Kapura narrowed his eyes. "Kavinika," he spoke.
Tamaru frowned; she had heard of Kavinika before, but she couldn't remember the specifics about that particular Rahi off the top of her head. But she didn't have time to ponder; the lead Kavinika charged forward, lowering his massive head to ram her. Tamaru reflexively drew back her disc, but already she knew she was reacting too slowly. But Taipu wasn't; he shoved her aside, and took the full brunt of the ram, which threw him painfully into the rock wall.
Kapura swung his pike forward, stabbing at the Kavinika's head. However, the armor on its forehead was quite tough, and it pushed aside the attack with ease and charged the Ta-Matoran, who somehow managed to dodge aside easily. The second Kavinika now focused on Tamaru and charged towards her. She wasn't going to be caught off guard again, and she threw her disc, but it also bounced harmlessly off the front of his head. He was about to ram Tamaru, but this time she was ready and jumped up and over it. As the Kavinika skidded and turned around, Tamaru retrieved her fallen disc, but she was still wondering how she was going to defeat it.
There was a sudden cry from the first Kavinika as Kapura jabbed at his head again. This time, Kapura had taken careful aim and struck one of the eyes; this didn't severely hurt the Kavinika, but it disoriented him for a moment. He aimed to charge at Kapura again, but his vision was disoriented, and he couldn't tell that Kapura was purposely selecting his location. The Kavinika charged, and Kapura miraculously dodged again, and instead the Kavinika rammed into his partner, sending the two of them sprawling on the cave floor. Still, it only took a few moments for them to recover, and then they turned their attention back on the Matoran.
"I believe a retreat may be in order," Kapura stated calmly.
"Obvious-yes!" Tamaru shouted. She raced over to help up a disoriented Taipu. "Are you ever-okay?"
"I've taken worse hits to the mask," Taipu said, still slightly delirious. "That only hurt a little."
"Well, hope you can quick-flee now," Tamaru said, grabbed onto his arm as she ran outside. They started down the hillside, but behind them she could hear the pounding of feet as the Kavinika chased after them. She glanced backwards, wondering where Kapura was, but she could only see the two charging Rahi. What had happened to the Ta-Matoran?
One of the Kavinika was about to catch up to Tamaru, but suddenly a disc caught it in the head, causing it to misstep and fall back. Tamaru followed the trajectory of the disc as it bounced back towards its owner; Kapura caught it, already at the base of the hill.
"How did you down-get here so fast?" Tamaru wondered, as she and Taipu caught up.
Kapura ignored her question. "Kavinika are very dangerous," he said. "They are strong and persistent; we can't fight them head on, and we won't be able to outrun them either."
"But can they up-climb?" Tamaru asked.
"I don't believe so," Kapura said.
"Then use Le-Koro battle-tactic and get up-tree!" Tamaru said, racing back into the forest. Behind them, the two Kavinika followed.
Unfortunately for Tamaru, the trees around them were relatively thin and had few lower branches, so they were not ideal for climbing. They sprinted through the forest, looking for just the right tree to escape up, but it took them a while to find one. Somehow, Kapura reached it first, and expertly started to climb up into the higher branches. Taipu was next, but he struggled to get a good handhold. Tamaru helped push him up, even as Kapura reached down a helping hand, but the two Kavinika caught up to them.
Tamaru knew what she had to do; abandoning Taipu, she leapt to the side and waved her arms to get the Kavinika's attention. "Here-over," she yelled. "Fast-catch me, Rahi beast!"
The two Kavinika turned and raced after her. However, while the forest was not the same as the jungles of Le-Wahi, Tamaru still knew how to leaf-run, and she expertly dodged around the trees and brush to slow down the Kavinika. Finally, she caught sight of a particular tree that would suffice, and quickly scampered to the top of it. The two Kavinika came to a stop at the base, and Tamaru was relieved to see that they didn't start climbing afterwards. However, the two did start clawing at the trunk, and Tamaru realized they intended to fell the tree just to get to her.
However, something else stepped out of the foliage; it was the Burnak they had been tracking. Tamaru half expected it to climb up after her, but instead the Burnak started barking and growling at the Kavinika, who quickly submitted to it. The three beasts soon turned and retreated.
Despite herself, Tamaru's curiosity was piqued. She returned to the forest floor and started stalking the beasts. To her surprise, the Burnak was leading the two Kavinika back to the cave, and they obediently walked back inside. Tamaru paused, hidden on the edge of the forest, as she watched the Burnak scanned the horizon before he too disappeared into the cave.
"What is ever-inside there?" she wondered, as she turned to rejoin her two companions.